Chef Puts the 'Mod' in Modern Mexican Cooking

NEW YORK, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Old Mexico meets modern cuisine with delectable results in Dos Caminos Mod Mex: Cooking Vibrant Fiesta Flavors at Home (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $24.95, November 2007). Mod Mex is the creation of award-winning chef Scott Linquist of the highly successful Dos Caminos restaurants and cookbook maven Joanna Pruess.

With three highly successful Dos Caminos locations in New York City -- as well as a fourth outpost opening in Las Vegas in The Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino in the Venetian in December 2007 -- it is the ideal time for Scott to share the authentic Mexican flavors and secrets from his restaurant kitchens with home chefs everywhere. The techniques and more than 125 fresh and easy- to-prepare recipes in Dos Caminos Mod Mex draw from Scott's more than 15 years of studying Mexican food and culture, highlighting regions from Baja and the Yucatan to Oaxaca. As Scott says:

"My cooking reflects these experiences and the enormous diversity of regional specialties throughout the country. Many dishes are updated traditional preparations. Others are originals inspired by Mexican techniques and ingredients that I combine with my classic culinary training."

The result is approachable, exciting, delicious food that satisfies any appetite. Beautiful four-color photographs, informative head notes, and sidebars throughout Dos Caminos Mod Mex complete the picture.

    A sampling:
    * Recipes for dishes from appetizers to main courses (including breakfast
      and brunch), desserts, and beverages. They include Scott's famed
      guacamole; Chorizo, Potato, and Goat Cheese Sopes; Tuna Ceviche with
      Mango-Serrano Chile Salsa; Chocolate Layer Cake with Morita Chile
      Mousse; and Chipotle Bloody Maria.

    * Basic techniques for making essentials from salsa to masa

    * Vital information about chile peppers (how hot is hot?)

    * A list of useful, uniquely Mexican cooking tools, from molcajete to
      tumbada

    * A helpful glossary and list of mail-order and Internet sources for
      ingredients

    * Tips on day-before preparation, recipe variations, cultural insights,
      holiday dishes, and cooking techniques. Learn why lard isn't necessarily
      a dietary no-no, how to cut an orange into segments, the qualities of
      red papayas and plantains, and much more.

If you're hungry for a taste of old Mexico with a generous dash of the 21st century, serve up some Mod Mex from Dos Caminos Executive Chef Scott

Linquist, who knows how to please the palates of today's food-savvy diners. Buen provecho!

Dos Caminos Mod Mex: Cooking Vibrant Fiesta Flavors at Home By Scott Linquist and Joanna Pruess -- Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC -- ISBN: 978-0-7407-6865-1 -- Price: $24.95 ($30.95 Canada) -- Hardcover: 7 1/2 x 11, 224 pages -- Publicity begins November 2007

About The Authors

Scott Linquist

Before Dos Caminos, Scott Linquist made his mark working with chefs in some of the top Mexican-inspired kitchens in the country. He was the man behind popular television chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger at Border Grill, the Santo Family Group's Arizona 206, and Buzzy O'Keeffe's latest project, Pershing Square. Now he is in the spotlight as the executive chef of Dos Caminos, Dos Caminos Soho, Dos Caminos Third and the soon-to-open Dos Caminos Las Vegas.

Even though Scott has done his share of French and American cuisine, he has a natural affinity for Mexican ingredients. A Los Angeles upbringing only fueled the fires of his taste buds. As part of his Culinary Institute of America education, he externed at Border Grill and City restaurants in Los Angeles with Mary Sue and Susan. This was the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship with the women who would eventually become the Too Hot Tamales. While an extern, Scott filled in as their chef, quite a feat for someone who had not yet graduated from culinary school.

After graduation, Scott worked with Nancy Oakes at Boulevard in San Francisco and at Lutece and Gotham Bar and Grill in New York. When Mary Sue and Susan asked him to become chef of Border Grill and help them expand their restaurant empire, Scott went back to California and stayed for two years. He then became chef at the groundbreaking Southwestern restaurant Arizona 206 in New York and spent two years creating upscale dishes using Mexican and Southwestern ingredients. From there he took a teaching position at the California School of Culinary Arts, returning to a restaurant kitchen when Buzzy called from Pershing Square in New York.

Scott received favorable reviews for his contemporary cuisine but felt it didn't define him as a chef. He missed the vibrancy and flavors of Mexican ingredients. As luck would have it, Stephen Hanson was looking for a chef to take over the stoves at the newly opened Dos Caminos, and through mutual acquaintances the two men met. Now Scott feels he has a home and a vehicle to showcase the food he loves. Vibrant flavors and colorful ingredients presented simply and beautifully are what diners can expect when experiencing Scott's cuisine at the most exciting Mexican restaurant in New York.

Scott's flair for flavor has been praised by Food & Wine, The New York Times, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, New York magazine, and more. He has appeared on CBS and CNBC.

Joanna Pruess

Award-winning cookbook author Joanna Pruess has written eight cookbooks and is consistently praised for her clear prose and well-tested recipes. She lives in the Bronx, NY.

About B.R. GUEST

Since opening its first restaurant in 1987, B.R. Guest Founder Stephen Hanson and his team have redefined the restaurant experience through an emphasis on hospitality and quality. Current B.R. Guest properties in New York City include Atlantic Grill, Blue Fin, Blue Water Grill, Dos Caminos Park, Dos Caminos Soho, Dos Caminos Third, Fiamma, Vento Trattoria, Ruby Foo's Dim Sum and Sushi Palace, Ruby Foo's Times Square, Level V nightclub and the recently launched Primehouse New York. B.R. Guest locations outside of New York include Fiamma Trattoria in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Blue Water Grill and David Burke's Primehouse in Chicago. In winter 2007, B.R. Guest will open Dos Caminos at the Palazzo in the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. Recently, Hanson inked a deal with hospitality giant, Barry Sternlicht, appointing B.R. Guest as the exclusive restaurateur in Sternlicht's '1' Hotels and Residences, the first luxury, eco-friendly global hotel brand. In June 2007, B.R. Guest took its obligation to the environment one step further by becoming the first national multi-concept restaurant group to be certified green by the Green Restaurant Association(TM). B.R. Guest's commitment to service and hospitality is also evident through its dedication of time and resources to community-based organizations including City Harvest, Share Our Strength, City-Meals-On-Wheels, Memorial Sloan Kettering, American Cancer Society, Publicolor, World Wildlife Federation, PENCIL, Momentum AIDS Project, American Heart Association and The James Beard Foundation.